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I don't think it was a bad strategy. Thomas was a JUCO All American. Wideman was a HS All American. What other SDE All Americans did we have an above average shot with last cycle?

The reports we had from Thomas's school last fall were that he was academically on track and had the opportunity to qualify for Summer I enrollment, he bombed the spring semester though.

Wideman has been on the fence since the Fall, but he was an elite national talent. Also, Wideman can still make it in for Fall Camp, that idea hasn't been eliminated yet.

As far as Ritchie goes, we were still deciding whether to play him at TE or DE and he wasn't expected to contribute year 1 anyways.

I don't think our strategy was bad. We went after the best players we had the best chance with. Some of those players dropped the ball on their academics. Our college coaches can't walk those guys to class everyday at their JUCO/HS.

true they can not walk them however a major component of the decision process is judgement in regards to the playes both initially and continuing to be availible to apply his onfield talents. Academics, character and work ethic are just as unknown, if not more so, than the potential developemt of physical assets and skills. These are every bit as much key components in the apraisal process and as much the responcibility of staff.

These misjudgements are as much reflective of our staffs evaulation abilities as are such things as a 2* qb such as DT having the underlying talent and the fortitude to develop into a starting SEC qb or the 5* character and work ethic to match the talent of a latimore demonstrated during his journey to return to FB.
They, like ea of us, are not perfect. We either credit our staff with the outcomes as fruit of thier efforts good bad and indifferent or we assign the outcomes across the board to some other factors. to grant them credit when the outcome is optimal but look to reassign the blame elsewhere indicates these men do not have the fortitude to bear responcibility for the end results of thier choices and efforts.
The hill they face, the net body of work and the dignity this staff demonstrates in hits and misses indicate fortitude is a plenty.

Just curious, are we in the run with any 5* recruits? I was looking at the class rankings so far and we are at 6 with a lot of 4*, but it seems like it will be tougher to get any higher without any 5*. I'm not complaining by any means just curious.

We need more 5 star recruits. Why? Because they win championships.. and they break records. See Clowney/Lattimore. It is not all stargazing. It is legit thinking.

As of right now there are 33-5* recruits listed by Rivals and every one of them is committed. Of course 6 of them are committed to Bama, LSU has 2 of the 4 from Louisiana (Bama and aTm have the other 2) a state nearly impossible to recruit in if your not LSU or Bama, 6 from states that we don't recruit in (Cal, Texas, Arizona, Mich), and 11 others who stayed in-state. That's 29 out of 33, doesn't leave much does it.

So if you expect to be able to recruit like Bama then your just delusional, they have the history and the money to recruit every state in the country.

I thought Fitzpatrick was committed to Bama? Is there a chance on flipping him?

I love how our coaches can develop these 3*/4* guys, but I think to truly become an elite program we need to start pulling in some 5*.

Tommy Suggs once quoted Tom Osbourne as saying that " a school can't compete in the top level of recruiting until it has had five straight top 20 finishes." I don't know if that is true, but it makes sense.

At about 12 years old, kids are starting to be worked into the local high school athletic system. They start pondering playing college football. If they see a team ranked for each of the next five years, they consider the team a historic football power by the time recruiting heats up at age 17 or so.

Really for USC to land 5-star players there has to be 5-star in state talent.

I do think there is a chance that Blackshear gets his 5th star back this year. Also JUCO Marquavius Lewis is a really high 4 star too and we are in it with him too. Those 2 are basically 5 stars

I don't know about that. We are top 10 team. I just think our staff doesn't want to get involved in an rear-kissing contest with too many of these guys when then there is another guy they think will do just as well that we have a better shot at. Rear-end kissing is not our recruiting style. We aren't going get a lot of 5 stars if what they are looking for the most is who shows them "the most love." Our coaches seem to be okay with that, so so should we. We're not waiting for guys much it seems. I think this show that if you like SC you better go ahead and commit while you have a chance. This will pay off for us.

However, the only one of those that seem likely is Minkah Fitzpatrick. He has said he will OV.

I wish Grady Brown could get McFadden to campus.

This is the next step USC has to take in recruiting. We have these recruits talking about us but they hardly ever follow through with a visit.

It was rumored at one point that USC was going to make a big run at Preston Williams but that's never developed.

I understand that we don't have some of the advantages that other schools have, but it blows my mind that we can't get guys like that on campus even just for visits. Who knows what could happen of we ever got them to visit. Even more confusing is how many of them say early on they want to visit here, and that's the extent of what we hear from them.

STARGAZING:
Our average star score of 3.47 is .01 less than what we finished with lass year when we ended up being ranked 16th. (Rivals). However, that may have been partially due to being 1 commit short of a "full class" last year. We are presently 5th only because of total number of commits. Too lazy to do 247.

Looks like we are working on our average type of class - if you beieve in star ratings.

5* players are obviously very gifted athletes with extremely high potential and yes the large majority do turn out to be studs. But these type of players are few and far between and for a team not named Bama, S Cal, Ohio St, ........ they are near impossible to pull from out of state. Win the SEC and play for a NC and we will have a much better shot at some of these guys.

4* and below you have to trust the coaches evaluation of there physical skills, football IQ (or just IQ in general), and character. This is what I see happening since Spurrier completely revamped his coaching staff. Sure the're going to take a chance on a few players purely out of natural talent but I have found the majority of recruits are intelligent high character players that with coaching and conditioning will turn into players that can bring you championships.

STARGAZING:
Our average star score of 3.47 is .01 less than what we finished with lass year when we ended up being ranked 16th. (Rivals). However, that may have been partially due to being 1 commit short of a "full class" last year. We are presently 5th only because of total number of commits. Too lazy to do 247.

Looks like we are working on our average type of class - if you beieve in star ratings.

Finding a way to be OK with middling recruiting classes, by SEC standards, is something every South Carolina fan has had to find a way to come to terms with during the Steve Spurrier era. Even as the football team has reached and sustained unprecedented heights, the recruiting efforts have yet to match the on-field results.

For all of his charm and play-calling brilliance, one thing Gamecock fans have all but given up on is the hope that the Head Ball Coach would turn the program into a recruiting behemoth. Until 2015 ... maybe.

So far in the 2015 cycle, South Carolina has landed 15 commitments: 8 from four-star prospects, 7 from three-star prospects. That's been good enough to earn the Gamecocks a ranking of No. 6 in the 247 Sports Composite recruiting team rankings. But should South Carolina close out its 10-or-so remaining spots with a whimper, the Gamecocks could find themselves with yet another top-15ish class and no better.

At various points during the 2014 and 2013 cycles, the Gamecocks seemed poised, not unlike they do now, to assemble their first elite recruiting class since 2006. But NCAA sanctions -- South Carolina was limited to 22 signees in 2012, 2013, and 2014 -- and a handful of near misses (Drew Barker, Matt Rolin, etc.) have kept the Gamecocks from breaking through.

And while nothing is certain in recruiting and February is a long way away and blah blah blah, industry experts certainly seem to think that USC is in excellent position to close out the 2015 class with a bang.

Recruiting analysts are projecting more than just the above-named players to sign with South Carolina, but five predictions in favor of the Gamecocks seemed like a reasonable floor to set. I made an exception for Dante Sawyer on account of his already having signed with South Carolina this spring.

Plugging all of these players into the Gamecocks' class using 247Sports' class calculator gives them a total of 22 commitments and moves them all the way up to No. 2 in the 2015 rankings. Of course, other schools will also be picking up commitments along the way, so comparing South Carolina's overall score to past classes would give a better idea of what to expect. Should the Gamecocks secure commitments from all seven of the players named above, it would give their 2015 composite score of 255.11. Regardless of the year, a score such as that makes a class all but a lock for a No. 12 or 13 final ranking.

If we assume that South Carolina will fill out its class with three players of the same caliber as its lowest-rated current commitment, three-star linebacker Jalen Henry, the boost would be small enough as to make no difference in the Gamecocks' final ranking. If, however, the final three commitments in the 2015 class are of a ranking at or above the average of South Carolina's current commitments -- basically, a three-star prospect right on the edge of being a four-star prospect -- the Gamecocks could find themselves contending for one of the top classes in the country.

Three more prospects such as the latter would give the Gamecocks' 2015 class a total rating of 298.88, which would push them to No. 1 as things currently stand. Going back from 2014 to 2011, such a haul would have yielded a ranking of No. 2, No. 3, No. 2, and No. 1, respectively.

It goes without saying that all of this excitement could turn to dust at a moment's notice. A few of the names above will probably make unexpected commitments to other teams. One or more currently committed players might even change his mind. A few more unexpected names will also undoubtedly show up on the radar. But for the time being, the Gamecocks appear to be on the brink of recruiting at a championship level, which is more than could be said of any class that has preceded it.

Finding a way to be OK with middling recruiting classes, by SEC standards, is something every South Carolina fan has had to find a way to come to terms with during the Steve Spurrier era. Even as the football team has reached and sustained unprecedented heights, the recruiting efforts have yet to match the on-field results.

For all of his charm and play-calling brilliance, one thing Gamecock fans have all but given up on is the hope that the Head Ball Coach would turn the program into a recruiting behemoth. Until 2015 ... maybe.

So far in the 2015 cycle, South Carolina has landed 15 commitments: 8 from four-star prospects, 7 from three-star prospects. That's been good enough to earn the Gamecocks a ranking of No. 6 in the 247 Sports Composite recruiting team rankings. But should South Carolina close out its 10-or-so remaining spots with a whimper, the Gamecocks could find themselves with yet another top-15ish class and no better.

At various points during the 2014 and 2013 cycles, the Gamecocks seemed poised, not unlike they do now, to assemble their first elite recruiting class since 2006. But NCAA sanctions -- South Carolina was limited to 22 signees in 2012, 2013, and 2014 -- and a handful of near misses (Drew Barker, Matt Rolin, etc.) have kept the Gamecocks from breaking through.

And while nothing is certain in recruiting and February is a long way away and blah blah blah, industry experts certainly seem to think that USC is in excellent position to close out the 2015 class with a bang.

Recruiting analysts are projecting more than just the above-named players to sign with South Carolina, but five predictions in favor of the Gamecocks seemed like a reasonable floor to set. I made an exception for Dante Sawyer on account of his already having signed with South Carolina this spring.

Plugging all of these players into the Gamecocks' class using 247Sports' class calculator gives them a total of 22 commitments and moves them all the way up to No. 2 in the 2015 rankings. Of course, other schools will also be picking up commitments along the way, so comparing South Carolina's overall score to past classes would give a better idea of what to expect. Should the Gamecocks secure commitments from all seven of the players named above, it would give their 2015 composite score of 255.11. Regardless of the year, a score such as that makes a class all but a lock for a No. 12 or 13 final ranking.

If we assume that South Carolina will fill out its class with three players of the same caliber as its lowest-rated current commitment, three-star linebacker Jalen Henry, the boost would be small enough as to make no difference in the Gamecocks' final ranking. If, however, the final three commitments in the 2015 class are of a ranking at or above the average of South Carolina's current commitments -- basically, a three-star prospect right on the edge of being a four-star prospect -- the Gamecocks could find themselves contending for one of the top classes in the country.

Three more prospects such as the latter would give the Gamecocks' 2015 class a total rating of 298.88, which would push them to No. 1 as things currently stand. Going back from 2014 to 2011, such a haul would have yielded a ranking of No. 2, No. 3, No. 2, and No. 1, respectively.

It goes without saying that all of this excitement could turn to dust at a moment's notice. A few of the names above will probably make unexpected commitments to other teams. One or more currently committed players might even change his mind. A few more unexpected names will also undoubtedly show up on the radar. But for the time being, the Gamecocks appear to be on the brink of recruiting at a championship level, which is more than could be said of any class that has preceded it.

Well, Octavious Johnson (**** with 5.8 rating) just committed. I don't know where that puts him the above averages, but I damn glad to have him.